JBL
Encyclopedia
JBL is an American
audio electronics company currently owned by Harman International. It was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing
. Their primary products are loudspeaker
s and associated electronics
. There are two independent divisions within the company — JBL Consumer and JBL Professional. The former produces audio equipment for the home market while the latter produces professional equipment for the studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound (production and DJ), and cinema markets.
as their Vice President of Engineering in 1945. The company was first called Lansing Sound, Incorporated, and dated from 1 October 1946 and then changed its name to James B. Lansing Sound. The first products model D101 15-inch loudspeaker and D175 The high frequency driver. The D175 remained in the JBL catalog through the 1970s. Both of these were near copies of Altec Lansing products. First original product was the D130, a 15-inch transducer for which a variant would remain in production for the next 55 years. The D130 featured a four-inch flat ribbon wire voice coil
and Alnico
V magnet. Two other products were the 12-inch D131 and 8-inch D208 cone drivers.
The Marquardt Corporation gave the company early manufacturing space and a modest investment. William H. Thomas, the treasurer of Marquardt Corporation, represented Marquardt on Lansing's Board of Directors. In 1948 Marquardt took over operation of the JBL. In 1949 Marquardt was purchased by General Tire Company. The new company was not interested in the loudspeaker business and severed ties with Mr. Lansing. The company was reincorporated as James B. Lansing, Incorporated, and moved to its first private location on 2439 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles.
A key to JBL's early development was Mr. Lansing's close business relationship with its primary supplier of Alnico V magnetic material, Robert Arnold of Arnold Engineering. Arnold Engineering extended favorable terms and deep credit to Mr. Lansing. Robert Arnold saw JBL as an opportunity to sell Alnico V magnetic material into a new market.
James Lansing was noted as an innovative engineer, but a poor businessman. For the next three years Mr. Lansing struggled to pay invoices and ship product. As a result of deteriorating business conditions and personal issues, he took his own life
on September 4, 1949. The company then passed into the hands of Bill Thomas, JBL's then vice-president. Mr. Lansing had taken out a $10,000 life insurance policy naming the company as the beneficiary. That allowed Mr. Thomas to continue the company after Mr. Lansing's death. Soon after, Mr. Thomas purchased Mrs. Lansing's one-third interest in the company and became the sole owner of the company. Mr. Thomas was responsible for revitalizing the company and spearheading a remarkable period of growth for the two decades following the founding of JBL.
Early products included the model 375 high frequency driver and the 075 UHF (Ultra High Frequency) ring radiator driver. The ring radiator drivers are also known as "JBL bullets" because of their distinctive shape. The 375 was a re-invention of the Western Electric 594 driver but with an Alnico V magnet and a four-inch voice coil. The 375 shared the same basic magnet structure as the D-130 woofer. JBL engineers Ed May and Bart N. Locanthi
created these designs.
Two products from that era, the Hartsfield and the Paragon, continue to be highly desired on the collectors market.
In 1955 the brand name JBL was introduced to resolve ongoing disputes with Altec Lansing Corporation. The company name "James B. Lansing Sound, Incorporated" was retained, but the logo name was changed to JBL with the distinctive exclamation point logo.
The JBL 4320 series studio monitor was introduced through Capitol Records in Hollywood and became the standard monitor worldwide for its parent company, EMI. JBL's introduction to rock and roll music came via the adoption of the D130 loudspeaker by Leo Fender
's Fender Guitar company as the ideal driver for electric guitar
s.
In 1969, Bill Thomas sold JBL to the Jervis Corporation (later renamed Harman International) headed by Dr. Sidney Harman. The 1970s saw JBL become a household brand, starting with the famous L-100, which was the best-selling loudspeaker model of any company to that date. The 1970s also saw a major JBL expansion in the professional audio field from their studio monitor
s. By 1977 more recording studios were using JBL monitors than all other brands combined, according to a Billboard
survey. The JBL L-100 and 4310 control monitors were noteworthy, popular home speakers. In the late 70s, the new L-series designs L15, L26, L46, L56, L86, L96, L112, L150, and later the L150A and flagship L250 were introduced with improved crossovers, ceramic magnet woofers, updated midrange drivers, and Aluminum deposition phenolic resin tweeters. In the mid 80s the designs were again updated and redesigned with a new titanium-deposition tweeter diaphragm. The new L-series designations being the L20T, L40T, L60T, L80T, L100T, and the Ti-series 18Ti, 120Ti, 240Ti, and the flagship 250Ti. To test speaker drivers, JBL in Northridge used the roof as an outdoor equivalent to an anechoic chamber
.
Over the next two decades JBL, went more mass-market with their consumer (Northridge) line of loudspeakers. At the same time, they made an entry into the high end market with their project speakers, consisting of the Everest and K2 lines. JBL became a prominent supplier to the tour sound industry, their loudspeakers being employed by touring rock acts and music festivals. JBL products were the basis for the development of THX
loudspeaker standard, which resulted in JBL becoming a popular cinema loudspeaker manufacturer.
JBL was formerly used in Ford's top-of-the-line vehicle audio systems, as competition with Chrysler
(whose cars used Infinity (audio)
) and Nissan (who used Bose Corporation). Today, Toyota uses JBL systems in its product line-up.
Home Audio Series: JBL Cinema Sound, Array series, Control Series, HT Series, HTI Series, K2 Series, On-The-Go, Performance Series, SCS Series, Soundpoint Series, Studio L Series, Synthesis, JBL Duet, JBL ES series.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
audio electronics company currently owned by Harman International. It was founded in 1946 by James Bullough Lansing
James Bullough Lansing
- Early years :He was born in 14 January 1902, in Greenridge, Nilwood Township, Macoupin County, Illinois to parents Henry Martini of St. Louis, Missouri and Grace Erbs Martini of Central City, Illinois. His father was a coal mining engineer which meant the family moved around quite a bit in James'...
. Their primary products are loudspeaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
s and associated electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
. There are two independent divisions within the company — JBL Consumer and JBL Professional. The former produces audio equipment for the home market while the latter produces professional equipment for the studio, installed sound, tour sound, portable sound (production and DJ), and cinema markets.
History
James B. Lansing founded JBL the year after leaving Altec LansingAltec Lansing
Altec Lansing is a line of professional, home, automotive, computer, and multimedia audio products first developed in 1936. They were used in many studios as monitor speakers...
as their Vice President of Engineering in 1945. The company was first called Lansing Sound, Incorporated, and dated from 1 October 1946 and then changed its name to James B. Lansing Sound. The first products model D101 15-inch loudspeaker and D175 The high frequency driver. The D175 remained in the JBL catalog through the 1970s. Both of these were near copies of Altec Lansing products. First original product was the D130, a 15-inch transducer for which a variant would remain in production for the next 55 years. The D130 featured a four-inch flat ribbon wire voice coil
Voice coil
A voice coil is the coil of wire attached to the apex of a loudspeaker cone. It provides the motive force to the cone by the reaction of a magnetic field to the current passing through it...
and Alnico
Alnico
Alnico is an acronym referring to iron alloys which in addition to iron are composed primarily of aluminium , nickel and cobalt , hence al-ni-co, with the addition of copper, and sometimes titanium. Alnico alloys are ferromagnetic, with a high coercivity and are used to make permanent magnets...
V magnet. Two other products were the 12-inch D131 and 8-inch D208 cone drivers.
The Marquardt Corporation gave the company early manufacturing space and a modest investment. William H. Thomas, the treasurer of Marquardt Corporation, represented Marquardt on Lansing's Board of Directors. In 1948 Marquardt took over operation of the JBL. In 1949 Marquardt was purchased by General Tire Company. The new company was not interested in the loudspeaker business and severed ties with Mr. Lansing. The company was reincorporated as James B. Lansing, Incorporated, and moved to its first private location on 2439 Fletcher Drive, Los Angeles.
A key to JBL's early development was Mr. Lansing's close business relationship with its primary supplier of Alnico V magnetic material, Robert Arnold of Arnold Engineering. Arnold Engineering extended favorable terms and deep credit to Mr. Lansing. Robert Arnold saw JBL as an opportunity to sell Alnico V magnetic material into a new market.
James Lansing was noted as an innovative engineer, but a poor businessman. For the next three years Mr. Lansing struggled to pay invoices and ship product. As a result of deteriorating business conditions and personal issues, he took his own life
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on September 4, 1949. The company then passed into the hands of Bill Thomas, JBL's then vice-president. Mr. Lansing had taken out a $10,000 life insurance policy naming the company as the beneficiary. That allowed Mr. Thomas to continue the company after Mr. Lansing's death. Soon after, Mr. Thomas purchased Mrs. Lansing's one-third interest in the company and became the sole owner of the company. Mr. Thomas was responsible for revitalizing the company and spearheading a remarkable period of growth for the two decades following the founding of JBL.
Early products included the model 375 high frequency driver and the 075 UHF (Ultra High Frequency) ring radiator driver. The ring radiator drivers are also known as "JBL bullets" because of their distinctive shape. The 375 was a re-invention of the Western Electric 594 driver but with an Alnico V magnet and a four-inch voice coil. The 375 shared the same basic magnet structure as the D-130 woofer. JBL engineers Ed May and Bart N. Locanthi
Bart N. Locanthi
Bartholomew Nicholas Locanthi II was an audio engineer and leading expert in the US pro-audio industry in the 1970s and 1980s....
created these designs.
Two products from that era, the Hartsfield and the Paragon, continue to be highly desired on the collectors market.
In 1955 the brand name JBL was introduced to resolve ongoing disputes with Altec Lansing Corporation. The company name "James B. Lansing Sound, Incorporated" was retained, but the logo name was changed to JBL with the distinctive exclamation point logo.
The JBL 4320 series studio monitor was introduced through Capitol Records in Hollywood and became the standard monitor worldwide for its parent company, EMI. JBL's introduction to rock and roll music came via the adoption of the D130 loudspeaker by Leo Fender
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender was an American inventor who founded Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, or "Fender" for short...
's Fender Guitar company as the ideal driver for electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s.
In 1969, Bill Thomas sold JBL to the Jervis Corporation (later renamed Harman International) headed by Dr. Sidney Harman. The 1970s saw JBL become a household brand, starting with the famous L-100, which was the best-selling loudspeaker model of any company to that date. The 1970s also saw a major JBL expansion in the professional audio field from their studio monitor
Studio monitor
Studio monitors, also called reference monitors, are loudspeakers specifically designed for audio production applications such as recording studios, filmmaking, television studios and radio studios where accurate audio reproduction is crucial....
s. By 1977 more recording studios were using JBL monitors than all other brands combined, according to a Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
survey. The JBL L-100 and 4310 control monitors were noteworthy, popular home speakers. In the late 70s, the new L-series designs L15, L26, L46, L56, L86, L96, L112, L150, and later the L150A and flagship L250 were introduced with improved crossovers, ceramic magnet woofers, updated midrange drivers, and Aluminum deposition phenolic resin tweeters. In the mid 80s the designs were again updated and redesigned with a new titanium-deposition tweeter diaphragm. The new L-series designations being the L20T, L40T, L60T, L80T, L100T, and the Ti-series 18Ti, 120Ti, 240Ti, and the flagship 250Ti. To test speaker drivers, JBL in Northridge used the roof as an outdoor equivalent to an anechoic chamber
Anechoic chamber
An anechoic chamber is a room designed to stop reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves.They are also insulated from exterior sources of noise...
.
Over the next two decades JBL, went more mass-market with their consumer (Northridge) line of loudspeakers. At the same time, they made an entry into the high end market with their project speakers, consisting of the Everest and K2 lines. JBL became a prominent supplier to the tour sound industry, their loudspeakers being employed by touring rock acts and music festivals. JBL products were the basis for the development of THX
THX
THX is a trade name of a high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, gaming consoles, and car audio systems. The current THX was created in 2001 when it spun off from Lucasfilm Ltd...
loudspeaker standard, which resulted in JBL becoming a popular cinema loudspeaker manufacturer.
JBL was formerly used in Ford's top-of-the-line vehicle audio systems, as competition with Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
(whose cars used Infinity (audio)
Infinity (audio)
Infinity Systems is an American manufacturer of loudspeakers founded by Arnie Nudell, John Ulrick and Cary Christie in 1968. Since 1983, Infinity has been part of the Harman International Industries group....
) and Nissan (who used Bose Corporation). Today, Toyota uses JBL systems in its product line-up.
Current Products (as of 2009)
iPod docking line: JBL On Stage Micro Blk, OS-400BLK, JBL On Time 400IHD, JBL On Time 200ID, JBL On Stage 400ID, JBL On Stage Micro Silver, JBL On Stage Micro Black, JBL On Stage III, JBL On Stage IIIP, JBL On Stage 200IDHome Audio Series: JBL Cinema Sound, Array series, Control Series, HT Series, HTI Series, K2 Series, On-The-Go, Performance Series, SCS Series, Soundpoint Series, Studio L Series, Synthesis, JBL Duet, JBL ES series.
JBL Professional : examples of applications
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - AMPASAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
(Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Hollywood, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). - Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique - IRCAMIRCAMIRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
(Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 1974-1991). - Digital Cinema Project - GAUMONTGaumont Film CompanyGaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
(Philippe Binant, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, 2000-2008).
External links
- Official consumer products website
- Official professional products website
- Lansing Heritage website
- JBL Forum at Vintage Audio (Many classic scans)
- JBL Professional Vintage Product Information
- Toyota line-up